For months Mike McQueary has remained silent about what exactly he witnessed in the Penn State locker room showers back in the spring of 2002. Today he finally broke that silence in a pretrial hearing involving the perjury charges levied against former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and former university vice-president Gary Schultz. McQueary’s story was graphic and detailed. In particular, McQueary made it clear that he’d told Joe Paterno exactly what he’d witnessed and that he’d also conveyed what he’d seen to Paterno’s superiors.

On that day McQueary said he opened the locker room door and heard “rhythmic slapping sounds. Two or three slaps that you would hear skin on skin.” McQueary said that he initially witnessed Jerry Sandusky and the young boy in a mirror reflection. “It appeared that Jerry was directly behind the boy and the boy had his hands up against the wall,” McQueary testified.

McQueary stated that he couldn’t be 100% sure that there was intercourse, but that’s what he believes was occurring. “I did not see insertion, nor was there any verbiage, screaming or yelling.”

At this point McQueary said he slammed the locker room door and approached the shower for a closer look. By this time Sandusky and the boy had separated. “They had both turned,” McQueary testified, “so their bodies were totally facing me and looking at me. They were four or five feet apart.”

McQueary said nothing to either Sandusky or the boy, but “I know they saw me, they looked directly in my eye, both of them,” he said. Asked on cross-examination if Sandusky had an erection, McQueary replied, “I don’t know. I don’t look and stare down there.” Asked whether he could tell how tall the boy was, if he had pubic hair, or even what color the boy’s hair was, McQueary said that he couldn’t be certain.

McQueary left the locker room feeling “shocked, distraught and probably not thinking straight.” He said he was not in the locker room for longer than 45 seconds or one minute.

Once outside the locker room he called his dad and told him what he’d just witnessed. “I just saw Coach Sandusky in the showers with a boy. What I saw was wrong and sexual and I need some advice quickly,” McQueary relayed.

On cross-examination, McQueary acknowledged he’d considered calling the police but decided against it. Asked why he’d never gone to the police, McQueary replied: “It was delicate in nature in my opinion and I tried to use my best judgement.”

After a long conversation with his father that same night, the decision was made to inform Coach Joe Paterno of what McQueary had seen. McQueary went home that night to his townhouse, slept, and phoned Paterno first thing in the morning.

On the phone McQueary said, “Coach, I need to come to your house and talk to you,” McQueary testified.

“He (Paterno) said, ‘I don’t have a job for you if that’s what it’s about, so don’t bother coming over if that’s what it’s about.'”

Arriving at Paterno’s house at eight that morning, McQueary and Paterno sat across the kitchen table from one another and McQueary testified: “(I) told him I saw Jerry with a young boy in the shower and it was extremely sexual in nature.”

McQueary said he did not use the terms “sodomy” or “anal sex” with Paterno, but described the “rough positioning” of Sandusky and the boy.

Paterno told McQueary: “You’ve done the right thing. I know it’s tough for you to come here and tell me this but you’ve done the absolute right thing.”

Then Paterno slumped back in his chair appearing “shocked and saddened.” “I’m sorry you had to see that,” Paterno told McQueary. “That’s terrible,” Paterno continued. “I need to think and tell some people what you saw and I’ll let you know what we’ll do next.”

The two men’s conversation lasted about ten minutes.

Nine or ten days later McQueary received a telephone call from Penn State athletic director Tim Curley informing him that Paterno had conveyed the Sandusky allegations to him.

The next day McQueary met in a small conference room with Curley and Penn State vice-president Gary Schultz.

McQueary testified he told the two men: “I told them I saw Jerry in the showers with a young boy and that what I had seen was extremely sexual and over the lines and it was wrong.” McQueary explained he’d told the two men by saying “it was extremely sexual and some type of intercourse was going on.”

McQueary said the two men appeared to take his report seriously and promised to “investigate (it) closely and follow up with me.”

McQueary testified that he believed the two men because “in my mind it was like speaking to a DA (district attorney).” (McQueary stated this because he knew Schultz to be the boss of the university police). Four or five days later, McQueary received a telephone call from athletic director Curley “say(ing) they followed up and looked into it.” McQueary testified that Curley informed him they’d “contacted the Second Mile (charity) and reported the incident. Told Jerry not to have kids around program or facility.” McQueary also said, “I think they told me they took his keys away, but I’m not totally sure.”

McQueary also said that security cameras were put in the facility after the incident as well.

The two men, Curely and Schultz, never spoke with McQueary again about the incident.

Nine years passed before McQueary finally spoke to a police officer or district attorney about what he’d seen.

At no point did McQueary ever confront Sandusky about what he’d seen in the locker room.